Office Building KPN/ Belvédère

Renzo Piano
1997-2000

Although this skyscraper by Italian architect Renzo Piano was one of the first towers on Wilhelminapier, in terms of height today it doesn't make the top ten list for the tallest of Rotterdam skyscrapers. (It is 98 meters tall.) It was designed for KPN Telecom and the front panel is said to tilt in parallel with the suspension cables on the nearby Erasmus Bridge--at 6 degrees.

Left: view with De Rotterdam immediately behind it; center: view from the north; right: view from the northeast with Luxor Theater in the background

The leaning panel, propped up by a 50 meter long steel shaft, has almost 1000 lights. See center detail.